When You Wake
by Veritas Found
Summary: She tells herself she chose this. It was the only way. A price had to be paid, and since she was unwilling to let the others pay it the job fell to her.


**Title:** "When You Wake"

 **Author:** Veritas Found

 **Rating:** K+ / PG / All Ages

 **Characters/Pairings:** Yucie, the Great Magician/Magazarent, General Cast; Arc x Yucie, Yucie x Princess Candidates (Friendship)

 **Summary:** She tells herself she chose this. It was the only way. A price had to be paid, and since she was unwilling to let the others pay it the job fell to her.

 **Disclaimer:** All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

 **Author's Notes/Warnings:** AU ending for the series. Character death. Nonlinear-ish. Apparently, I started a very similar story to this about three or so years ago and never finished it. Then someone posted the lyrics in the epigraph on Tumblr and got the plunnies nibbling again – but, of course, I couldn't remember that _I'd already started this stupid story_ , so I couldn't understand why I kept having these ideas that weren't working, and didn't I have notes stashed around somewhere? Once I found the (unintentional/unknown) first draft, it came together much easier – like about an hour. Sheesh. Also, I kind of want to say forget you Pit and tell everyone to hop over to Ao3 to read this? I was playing around with the formatting, with the different bits being either right/left aligned, and laughed in my face. So maybe hop on the Archive to see the fic how I intended it?

" _ **When You Wake"**_

 _it was only a test, but she swam too far against the tide_

 _she deserves what she gets_

 _the sky became mad with stars as an outstretched arm slowly disappears…_

 _please, don't worry – there'll be no fuss_

 _she was nobody's nothing…_

 _when he awoke the sea was calm_

 _and another day passes like a dream…_

" _lifeguard sleeping, girl drowning" – morrissey_

She knows this story.

Once upon a time, there was a princess. She is placed under a terrible curse and must go on a quest to break it. Along the way, she becomes stronger. She meets new friends. She falls in love with a dashing prince. She overcomes insurmountable odds and learns she can do things she never dreamed possible – she even slays a dragon (an evil one, not the good kind, of course). In the end, the curse is broken. Peace is restored to the kingdom. She marries the prince. They live happily ever after.

She knows this story.

Just as she knows it was never hers.

* * *

 _Her eyes opened the moment her heels clicked against the floor of the gazebo. Queen Erlsel still knelt before the gateway, but the Queen was not her concern. Not when Prince_

 _Aero – when Arc – was dying on the other side of the city._

 _The trip to the palace had never felt longer, even though she was running full pelt. Still, she knew she would make it in time. That was part of their deal, after all._

 _The blinding flash of the Tiara ensured the guards would not stop her._

 _Its mere presence – her mere presence – ensured the three gathered by his bedside would not stop her, either._

 _She had expected her heart to feel impossibly heavy as she knelt by his side and took his hand in her own. When she closed her eyes to make her wish, she was surprised to note that it wasn't._

 _It was, unexpectedly, practically weightless._

* * *

There was a time, back when the whole mess was just starting, that she had convinced herself maybe it could be. Back then, she had thought she could become the Princess.

She had thought she could break the curse. She had thought she could marry the Prince.

Back then, she hadn't known what every bedtime story leaves out.

She hadn't known there would be a cost. Prices must be paid for happy endings, and a happy ending of this magnitude doesn't come cheap.

And in the end, she tells herself it's only fair. It's not her story, but it is theirs. They were born into that life, so it's only fair that the one who wasn't is the one who pays the price.

They had been willing to do it for her, after all.

* * *

" _They have already agreed," the voice of the Great Magician was colder than the night air around them. A chill coursed down her spine, and she hugged herself against it. "Where_

 _you were unwilling to make a choice they went ahead and chose for you."_

" _I was making a choice," she said. Her back was still turned to the hooded figure behind her. She couldn't look at her, not now. Somehow she knew she would lose her nerve if she had to look into those glowing red eyes._

" _They reached a decision first," the Great Magician said. It wasn't fair – but these things rarely were._

" _Well, I'm making a decision now," she said. Her voice was strong as she turned to face her._ " _And as the Platina Princess, my decision is the one that matters."_

" _You don't even want to know what they agreed to?" the Great Magician asked. It was almost –_ almost _– enough to give her pause._

"… _no," she finally said. "It's irrelevant now. Because I've decided, and this is what's going to happen."_

* * *

His skin is cooler now. She thinks back to a time not so long ago that she would have loved to see him shirtless – that the sight would have reduced her to a blushing, stuttering mess. There's nothing romantic about it now. He was dying, and now he is not, and the fact that he is shirtless in bed beside her is just a consequence of the previous state of dying.

She hadn't expected the wish to take so much out of her. He was just starting to wake up when she lost consciousness, and she had awoken to find herself in bed beside him.

She hadn't expected that, either.

* * *

" _That's why you're a brat!" Gurenda called from the other end of the dock "You're so easy to fool."_

 _When the Great Magician appeared beside them, a feeling of finality clenched itself around her heart._

" _Yucie, I liked your world…I really liked it," Beth said softly, and even though the Great Magician had already told her the words were like a slap in the face. They had made a decision without her – just as she had made hers without them – and they would see it through._

" _Please become a good Princess," Erumina added, smiling kindly at her. "After all, you are our representative."_

 _They were saying goodbye._

 _She pressed against the barrier. She knew what would happen, but in that last moment she found she didn't want it – not like this. The Great Magician hadn't had to go along with this – there was no need for the theatrics. It could have – should have – been easier._

" _Miss Yucie…Miss Yucie, you will always be our precious friend!" Kokoru called through her tears, but it was too much. She couldn't do this – couldn't make them go through this. She threw herself against the barrier, crying out her protests, but Gurenda only laughed at her._

" _It's useless!" the Demon Princess chided. "Do you think you can break this magic barrier made by the elegant, fantastically magical Princess of the Demon World?"_

 _No. Of course she couldn't. But Gurenda shouldn't have placed the barrier there in the first place – this wasn't part of her deal._

 _But it was part of theirs._

" _Try not to get fooled again," Gurenda said. Her head was down, her arms shaking from where they pressed against the barrier. "Also, serve the Prince faithfully! There's no one else that would stay with a brat like you!"_

 _How she wished she could._

" _Also, do something about those awful bangs," Gurenda laughed bitterly, and she almost smiled at her. "And…and…don't forget about your kindness."_

 _Never._

 _It was her kindness that was making her do this, after all._

 _While Gurenda's head was bowed, she glanced back to their friends. Her eyes landed on the Great Magician, who nodded subtly before raising her staff._

 _It was never supposed to be like this._

* * *

"It's time."

She knows this. She's all too aware, but the knowing doesn't make the doing any easier. She tells herself she chose this. It was the only way. A price had to be paid, and since she was unwilling to let the others pay it the job fell to her.

She had agreed to this. For them.

She brushes her hand against his forehead, smoothing the sweat-slicked hair out of the way. He's so calm now, so different from the violent thrashing and guttural moans of not too long before. She had seen the curse leave him, had seen him wake up in the moments before she had lost consciousness herself – but the illness had still taken its toll on him, and he had fallen asleep again not long after. Frederik had left them together, knowing they both needed the rest and assuming no one would mind their being together. She's grateful for that, for the few moments she had been awake to watch him sleep so peacefully – it was all the time they had been allowed. It would have to be enough.

He shifts in his sleep, leaning into her touch, and it's all she can do to choke down a sob. He is not hers, not any more. Perhaps he never truly was.

That doesn't stop her from leaning down, from pressing her lips ever so lightly against his own. It's not their first kiss – if anything, it's worse – but she knows all too well that it will be their last.

"Goodbye," she whispers, and she steps back towards the Great Magician. It's pain, and it's slow, letting her hand linger against him as long as she can…but it's time, and she had agreed to this.

For him.

For them.

It is time.

* * *

"… _you are aware this is entirely unprecedented," the Great Magician said. Her voice sounded critical._

" _I'm sure," she said, sighing, "but you can't tell me it's impossible."_

" _Your life for theirs…it is unconventional, but it should work," the Great Magician's voice was quieter, as if she was still considering her proposition. It wasn't that difficult, really._

 _She was the Platina Princess. She was the one the Tiara had chosen. So, it went without saying that her heart should be the strongest, and if all the Tiara needed was the power of strong hearts to balance the power released by the wish it had to grant to destroy it…didn't it make sense that her heart should be strong enough for all of them?_

 _So she would accept the Tiara. She would make her wish._

 _And she would be the one to disappear._

" _You would give up everything for them? Your prince?"_

" _My prince will live," she said. Her voice sounded stronger than she felt. "And so will my friends. Yes, I'll give up everything for that to happen."_

" _They will not be pleased," the Great Magician pointed out._

" _No, I don't expect they will," she laughed. It sounded hollow to her ears. "I only have one condition."_

" _Just one?"_

" _They can't…they can't remember me," she said. At the Great Magician's silence, she turned back to face her. Her eyes had stopped glowing, nothing but darkness remaining beneath the hood. "If they remember me, they won't let me go. They won't stop fighting until my world…all of our worlds…are as doomed as this one."_

" _You are so sure of this?" the Great Magician asked, and her smile is pained._

" _It's what I would do," she said. "I wouldn't give up until it was too late. I wouldn't let them go, and I wouldn't let Arc die. But if there truly is no other way…they can't remember me. None of them – not even Arc."_

" _It will be as you wish," the Great Magician said. She laughed, the sound defeated. "Would you believe they requested the same of you? That I take your memories of them?"_

" _Let them think you have," she said, sighing. "They can't know until it's too late. It's the only way."_

" _As you wish."_

* * *

When he wakes, it's as if from the dead. He had slept well and deep, and he's encased with a lethargy that covers the world in a sleep-addled fog. He sits up, the blankets falling from his bare chest to land at his waist, and he wonders why something feels…different. Odd. Off.

It must have been the dream. He can't remember it now, but it lingers at the edges, like a phantom touch. He shakes his head clear of the cobwebs and tosses his blanket back, standing and stretching in one fluid motion. He's being ridiculous, and if he doesn't rise soon Frederik will be pounding on his door to drag him to his duties.

He heads towards the bathroom to wash up for the day, and as he leaves the main room he misses the soft pink glove lying half under his bed. Of course, he also doesn't see the phantom girl sitting on the edge of the bed, who bends to retrieve the glove and slips it onto her translucent hand. She smiles at him, the look too full of pain and sadness for one appearing so young.

She's gone when he comes back into the room a short while later. Not that he knows to miss her, of course.

He doesn't know anything about her at all.


End file.
